Claudio Ranieri has come out of retirement at the age of 73 to take charge of Roma until the end of the season, the Serie A club have announced, days after sacking the Croatian Ivan Juric.
Ranieri is Roma’s third coach of the season and this is his third time coaching his home-town club, having guided the Giallorossi from 2009-11 and in 2019. He began his playing career with Roma.
“AS Roma is pleased to announce that Claudio Ranieri is the new head coach of the first team,” a club statement said. “At the end of the season Claudio will transition into a senior executive role, where he will be an adviser to the ownership on all sporting matters at the club. The search for a future coach will proceed over the next months. Claudio will have input in that decision as well.”
Juric was fired on Sunday after a 3-2 home loss to Bologna left Roma 12th, four points above the Serie A relegation zone. Juric replaced the popular Daniele De Rossi in September. Ranieri becomes Roma’s fourth coach this year, De Rossi having taken over from José Mourinho in January.
It has been a crisis-filled season for Roma’s American owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin. Fans protested after De Rossi, a former club captain, was fired. The CEO and general manager Lina Souloukou resigned days later after fans blamed her for De Rossi’s departure.
Ranieri helped Cagliari avoid relegation last season and had said that would be his final club job. He is best known for leading Leicester to the English Premier League title in 2016. He faces a difficult debut at the Serie A leaders, Napoli, in 10 days.
